Philips Electronics India, the country arm of the Netherlands-based lighting systems, healthcare and consumer products major Royal Philips Electronics, plans to make India as a key hub for production, research and development (R&D) activities for its global operations.
The EURO 27-billion Philips, which announced yesterday its plans to acquire Navi Mumbai-based cardiovascular X-ray system-maker Alpha X-Ray Technologies, is planning to scale production facilities to meet global demand for lighting solutions and other products, said Murali Sivaraman, managing director and chief executive of Philips Electronics India.
The firm’s Noida centre, which develops advanced lighting solutions, will be scaled up and linked to the global development centre at Shanghai, China. Philips will initially assign engineers with projects in Shanghai and will then transfer them to Noida to implement the solutions.
As part of this strategy, Philips will invest in testing facilities and ramp up operations by recruiting an additional 35 engineers, he said. However, the company refused to give details of how much they planned to spend to raise production capacities and development centres.
The Rs 2,890-crore Philips India has two manufacturing centres at Mohali and Vadodara for lighting solutions and plans to increase capacity to cater to the domestic and emerging market requirements. The manufacturing capacity of Compact Fluorescent Lamp (CFL) was recently increased in view of the domestic demand.
Lighting solutions account for about 40-45 per cent of Philips India turnover, and the company commands a market share of over 25 per cent for lamps and lighting electronic products in the country.
Philips is planning to launch new energy-efficient products such as LEDs, illumination solutions for shops, malls, stadiums and street lighting in the country. The firm has developed power solutions that can handle extreme voltage fluctuations and the company plans to exports such products to countries having similar power problems, said Sivaraman.
Bert van Meurs, senior vice president, Philips Healthcare said company would ramp up the making and R&D facilities of acquired Alpha X-Ray Technologies for supply of economic cardiovascular X-ray systems for various emerging markets.
“We are looking at constant growth and Philips have spent over EURO 10 billion on acquisitions. India will be a major focus area for us, for both organic and inorganic opportunities for right technologies and products,” he said.
At present, Philips is a market leader in the country for medical equipments such as critical care products like ECGs and intensive care equipments and diagnostics imaging products, said Anjan Bose, senior director and business head of Philips Healthcare.
